


Best Boyfriend I Ever Had

by jaicubed



Category: Dolan Twins - Fandom
Genre: Grethan, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-06 22:16:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12827253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaicubed/pseuds/jaicubed
Summary: With the help of his best friend James, Grayson realizes that maybe Ethan is a little too attached to him. In the spirit of mutual independence, Grayson attempts several times to move out and get his own place. Ethan's...resistant.





	1. Chapter 1

“And then he said he felt like I was neglecting him because I spend so much time with Ethan. Can you believe that?”

James hesitated. “Well…”

“Don’t tell me you agree with that bullshit,” Grayson said, his voice rising. James shushed him, gesturing to the hordes of people on the sidewalk passing by their table. Maybe sitting outside the cafe hadn’t been the best idea.

“First of all, he’s my twin fucking brother, for Christ’s sake. Second of all, we live together. Third of all, we work together. Of course I’m going to spend a lot of time with him. But that doesn’t mean I neglect people,” Grayson argued.

Grayson took a sip of his coffee, his eyes narrowed. “Men are so fucking annoying. They think that you owe them every free second of your day, like they’re your entire world. It’s disgusting.”

“Those are all very valid points, sweetie…but- and hear me out on this- since your last three boyfriends dumped you for this very reason, I think it’s worth examining a bit. Don’t you?” James put his hand over Grayson’s.

“Look, I know that you and Ethan have a very special bond, and that’s wonderful. But even apart from that, and the living together thing, and the working together thing….I’ve noticed - and this is much easier to see as someone on the outside- that Ethan is very…possessive, of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Grayson grumbled, snatching his hand from James’. James sighed.

“All I mean is that Ethan demands a lot of your time. He’s not as independent as you are, and he’s….well, he’s a little needy. I don’t think you realize it, since you’ve been in each other’s pockets your whole lives, but it’s true. And I think…I think guys get a little jealous, you know? That another man is so attached to you.”

Grayson scrunched up his nose. “He’s my _brother_.”

“I know. But you’re also adults now, Gray. You can live your own life. I just don’t know if you’re ever going to be able to have a long-term relationship with a man if you don’t cut Ethan’s umbilical cord. I think…I think it might be time for you to think about getting your own place.”

“What-” Grayson began, but before he could continue, his phone buzzed on the table.

“What is it, Ethan?” Grayson said, more than a little annoyed, when he answered. James crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow as if to say “told you so.”

“I’m having coffee with James…I did tell you, in fact, I told you twice- once last night, and once this morning…I don’t know when I’ll be back, we’re going shopping after this….” James could see a bit of fight leave Grayson’s eyes, and he counted it as a win when Grayson made a point of avoiding eye contact. Grayson bit his thumbnail, listening to Ethan complain about some really tedious shit, by the look on his face.

“Why would I take _your_ spandex? They’re probably stuffed in the bottom of your gym bag, like usual. Did you even look?…Well, look again. I have to go,” Grayson said, massaging his temples. “What? No, I’m not going to buy you more! Just look again!“

Grayson gave James a look that was both apologetic and ashamed. He listened to Ethan ramble on for another two minutes, knowing that if he just hung up that Ethan would be pissed for days.

“Yeah, I’ll be home for dinner….anything’s fine. Okay… Okay… Okay. See you later. Bye!” Grayson hung up the phone and looked at James desperately. “It isn’t always that bad.”

James gave Grayson a look full of pity. “Actually, sweetie, it is.”

“Oh my God,” Grayson groaned, putting his face in his hands. He sighed in resignation. “Know any realtors?”

*************************

Suggesting to Ethan that he might get his own place had gone just as well as Grayson had expected- horribly.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what James had said during their coffee date, and the entire week afterwards, he noticed more and more things that Ethan did that were…needy. Clingy. Possessive. How had he not noticed them before?

Ethan couldn’t go to the gym without him. Ethan couldn’t go to the grocery store by himself without calling him five times. Ethan got nervous when Grayson didn’t text back after three hours had passed, even if he knew Grayson was doing something. There were a ton of other things, so many that Grayson’s mental list became so long he had to start putting them in his phone.

It was unhealthy, for both of them. Ethan would never be able to function on his own, and Grayson would keep enabling him until they were both 80-years-old and changing each other’s adult diapers. It had to stop.

Grayson rehearsed what he was going to say for three days. And then, one night at dinner, he said it.

_I think I might get my own place. I just think we’re a little too dependent on each other, you know? It will be good for us to branch out a bit. Be real adults._

Ethan had flipped out. It was Extra Ethan times a billion. He’d called Grayson a terrible brother (and many other colorful things) and then didn’t speak to him for the next three days.

When Ethan had finally knocked on Grayson’s door, tail between his legs, and apologized for being such an asshole, he said he would try to be better. If Grayson could only give him a month, he’d see that Ethan was capable of being his own person.

Amazingly, it had worked.

At first.

Grayson was able to move freely throughout the city without his phone buzzing every two seconds. Ethan managed to do the laundry and the grocery shopping without asking him any questions. Ethan even went on a date, with a real live woman; it was a flop, but still. Progress.

Grayson was pretty proud, and he’d decided to stay put, for the moment.

He and James went out one Saturday night (with no Ethan blowing up his phone!) and Grayson successfully bagged a 6′5″ jock with an amazing body and eight inch dick, and got fucked into oblivion in his own bedroom without Ethan walking in on them.

Usually his hook-ups left after sex, but this guy had fallen asleep right after he’d come and Grayson hadn’t had the heart to wake him up.

Now, it was the morning, and Grayson was in bed. By himself. The guy’s clothes were still on the floor, so he hadn’t left yet. Maybe he’d gone to the bathroom?

He heard Ethan laugh in the kitchen, the dude’s deep chuckle mixing in.

Oh God. Oh God, no.

Grayson scrambled to put on a pair of sweatpants and hurried out to the kitchen, and his worst fears were confirmed.

“Ethan?” Grayson asked carefully. Both men turned to look at him, but Ethan smiled at him the biggest.

“Gray, where’d you find this guy? He’s hilarious,” Ethan said, pointing at the dude with the spatula in his hand. There were various breakfast ingredients on the counter, and an eggy pan on top of the stove. Gray looked in front of the dude and noticed a plate piled with food.

“You made him breakfast?” Gray asked incredulously. This was mortifying. This was a new low.

“Well, yeah,” Ethan replied, like it was the most natural thing one could do for a sibling’s one night stand. “We bumped into each other in the hallway, and I was about to make some omelettes. So I made him one.”

“And it’s bomb,” the dude chimed in, and Ethan beamed.

This was too much. Grayson was going to die of embarrassment. He’d been speared on this dude’s cock last night, and now Ethan was making him omelettes.

“I’m gonna go take a shower,” Grayson said faintly.

“Wait! What do you want in your omelette?” Ethan asked. “It’ll be ready when you come out.”

“Surprise me.”

Grayson trudged back to his room and dug his phone out of the pile of clothes on the floor. He opened his text conversation with James.

**Ethan made my hook-up an omelette.**

Five seconds later, James responded.

_**Cut that cord, sweetie. Now.** _

Grayson put his face in his hands. Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

“Gray, I’m sorry, okay? Next time I bump into one of your hook-ups in the hallway, I’ll ignore him. Totally ghost him like he doesn’t even exist. Walk right by and-”

“There isn’t going to  _be_  a next time, because I’m moving out.” Grayson ran a hand down his face. “Look, E, you’re my brother, and I love you, but we need to start living our own lives, and that’s not going to happen if we’re under the same roof.”

“So you’re just gonna leave? What about our channel? All the projects we’re working on?” Ethan asked, his temper flaring.

“Jesus, E, I’m not moving to fucking Antartica. I’ll still be in the city, and we’ll keep doing our work, just like always. Except now, at the end of the day, I’ll go home to a different apartment. It’ll be fine.” Grayson willed Ethan to believe him, but twin telepathy wasn’t a real thing and Ethan just got more pissed off.

“No, it won’t be fine. Part of what makes our videos so good is because we’re close, and if we’re not living together, that’s all gonna go to shit. I don’t know how you can’t see that,” Ethan said angrily. But more than just anger, there was hurt, and that was the part that killed Grayson the most.

“I promise we’ll still be close. That’s never gonna change. Ever.”

Ethan shook his head. “Whatever.” He left Grayson’s room without another word and slammed the door behind him.

Grayson flopped onto his bed and sighed. His stomach was churning with guilt, but he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. This was life. He hated to see Ethan upset, but unfortunately, that was inevitable. Grayson just had to move forward.

He forced himself to pick up his phone and look at apartment listings. He wasn’t really sure how much he could spend on rent, since he and Ethan just usually split everything in half. He’d have to look at their finances, and that was just too fucking much right now. 

He fell asleep with his phone on his chest and dreamt about moving to Antartica. All of the penguins had little moles on their cheeks, just like Ethan.

******

When Grayson met Ethan in the kitchen that morning, it was obvious that Ethan wasn’t ready for civil conversation. So, he went to the gym. He put himself through a brutal work-out, and when he was done he was dripping with sweat and could barely walk. He was hobbling towards the locker room when someone called out to him.

“Hey!” Grayson turned towards the voice and saw a guy about his age jogging towards him. 

“Hey, sorry to bother you, but...aren’t you one of the Dolan twins?” The guy was as sweaty and disgusting as Grayson, but he had such a nice body it was easy to overlook.

“Yeah, I am. I’m Grayson.” Grayson held out his hand, and the guy shook it. Fuck, this guy’s hands were big. He was tall, too- not as huge as the omelette jock, but he was better looking- pretty brown eyes, Roman nose, full lips. His hair was thick and dark, and he had that perfectly sexy five o’ clock shadow thing going on that Grayson could never pull off.

“I’m Adam,” the dude replied. He grinned. “My little sister is going to freak out. She loves you guys. Is your brother here too?”

“Ah, no. He’s at home. It’s just me.”  _Thank God_.

“That’s probably a good thing. As it is, my sister’s probably going to faint when I tell her I met you. If I met you  _and_  your brother, she’d probably have an aneurysm.”

Grayson chuckled. “Well, I hope neither of those things happens. As a general rule, we like our fans to remain conscious.”

“That’s a pretty solid rule, I’d say,” Adam agreed, his eyes twinkling. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’m sure you hate when people do this, but would you mind taking a selfie with me? My sister will never believe me without photographic evidence.”

“I wouldn’t mind at all, but I look kind of gross right now,” Grayson said. “Post-workout isn’t a great look on anyone.”

“Believe me, you could be covered in mud up to your eyelids and she’d still love you,” Adam replied. “When I say she loves you guys...I mean she  _really_  loves you guys.”

“If you say so,” Grayson said, holding up his hands. He and Adam posed for the photo, and Grayson couldn’t help but notice how nice Adam’s arm felt around his shoulders. He  _really_  needed a boyfriend.

“This is great,” Adam said, scrolling through the few shots he’d taken. “She’s gonna flip out. Thanks, bro.”

Grayson wasn’t quite ready to let Adam leave yet- he was just too gorgeous- so he said the first thing that came to mind.

“If you wanted to take a video of me, I could say hello to your sister personally,” Grayson offered. 

“Are you trying to kill her?” Adam asked, laughing. “I mean, yeah, that would be awesome, if you wouldn’t mind. Her name is Victoria.”

Once the video had been recorded and Adam had thanked him profusely, Grayson tried to come up with another reason to hang around. He came up empty.

“Nice meeting you, man. I’ll be great to tell Victoria that her idol isn’t a douche bag in real life,” Adam said, cuffing Grayson on the arm. 

“Another one of our rules is not to be douche bags to fans’ older brothers,” Grayson replied.  _Especially not ones as hot as you_.

“Again, solid rule. Hey, bro, I’ll let you go. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe you will.” Adam saluted him and walked back towards the weights. Grayson completed his journey to the locker room and sat on a bench. He looked at his watch.

He’d been going to the gym at 10:05am every day from now on.

*********

“And you didn’t get his number because...” James gestured for Grayson to explain himself. They were back at their regular table outside the cafe, their feet freshly pedicured.

“He was straight. He called me  _bro_. Twice. And I’m not gonna hit on a guy who just wanted a picture for his sister,” Grayson replied, rolling his eyes.

“Well, the next time you see him he won’t be asking for a picture. And you  _better_  hit on him, Grayson Dolan. You need a boyfriend. I know you think you can get by with hook-ups, but you’re too much of a romantic.” James raised an eyebrow and took a long sip of his drink.

“ _If_  I see him again,” Grayson mumbled. He knew James was right about the other stuff- hell, he’d thought the same thing in the gym- but James’ ego was big enough already.

“Speaking of boyfriends, how’s moving out progressing?” James asked. 

“It’s not,” Grayson replied. “Once Ethan started talking to me again after the omelette incident, he suggested that I move into one of the other apartments in our building. When I explained that sort of defeated the purpose of me moving out, he got mad again.”

Grayson sighed. “He’s talking to me now, but I don’t want to bring it up again. We have to film today, and it’s hell trying to make a video with him when he’s pissed off.”

James pursed his lips in thought. “Maybe we have to get Ethan to think you moving out was his idea. Reverse psychology and all that. Just...make yourself so intolerable to live with that he has no choice but to kick you out.”

“I don’t think there’s anything I could do that would make Ethan kick me out,” Grayson replied, slumping in his chair.

“Yeah, he does sort of think the moon shines out of your ass,” James said, and Grayson pulled a face. “Let me think about it. We’ll come up with something.” 

Grayson didn’t have much faith in that assertion, but he didn’t say anything. 

Being an adult was hell.


End file.
